1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
CICW has awarded Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grants for over 20 years to teacher-scholars and worshiping communities in 45+ states and provinces and across 40+ denominations and traditions—including Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, non-denominational, and other Protestant communities.
While worship styles and practices vary greatly across these traditions, the grant projects typically explore at least one of CICW’s ten core convictions related to worship. Explore the hundreds of projects we’ve funded across both streams of the program.
To launch an intergenerational worship formation project pairing older mentors and students to learn and model prayer, worship, and scripture reading to foster deeper and lasting spiritual disciplines and a sustainable culture of vibrant faith expression.
To learn about and practice collaborative worship planning among clergy, musicians, youth, and lay leaders to strengthen leadership and deepen intergenerational engagement.
To ground the congregation in biblical and theological foundations of prayer by teaching on the theology and practice of prayer and by fostering opportunities for shared intergenerational group prayer experiences.
To invite all ages into creative, participatory worship by facilitating experiential worship opportunities with a worship lab and a collective art project.
To increase participation of laity across generations in planning and leading worship by strengthening the choir as a vehicle for leadership and formation.
To encourage a deep and ongoing engagement with scripture by singing, teaching, and praying the psalms of ascent as an intergenerational community.
To help children come to love, learn about, and interact with God through the development of a children's Sabbath program that uses music, drama, visual arts, and other disciplines to teach children liturgical concepts and enable them to participate significantly in worship services.
To address the spiritual needs of second-generation Ethiopian American children and youth in a culturally sensitive way through worship, preaching, and teaching that includes them in the life and leadership of the church.
To deepen connections between worshipers and to encourage a practice of recognizing the sacred in all of life by centering corporate worship and home groups on practices of shared attention, communal creation, and joyful expression.
To deepen scriptural engagement and foster intergenerational worship by inviting congregation members of all ages to share their personal faith stories through various storytelling methods.
To foster spiritual and theological depth in worship leaders of all ages through educational opportunities and celebrating the gifts participants are developing.
To facilitate worship and learning opportunities centered around the sacraments of baptism and eucharist to help multicultural and multigenerational families in the local community become grounded in their faith.
